1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air cooling system for a vertical engine having a cylinder head projecting forwardly of a vehicle, which vehicle includes the engine, a steering box disposed rearwardly of the engine, and a hood extending from the steering box and over the engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of air cooling system for the engine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,309, for example. In this air cooling system, a hood and a baffle defines an air passage between a steering box including an air intake opening defined in a rear wall thereof, and a cooling fan mounted above a vertical engine. The baffle includes a semicircular curved portion extending around the cooling fan, and legs extending tangentially from opposite ends of the curved portion to the steering box. With this construction, cooling air entering through the air intake opening flows to the cooling fan through an interior space of the steering box and through an inlet of the baffle defined by the hood and right and left baffle legs.
However, such a cooling system achieves only an insufficient amount of cooling air intake since cooling air is guided to a suction opening of the cooling fan through a narrow space surrounded by the hood and right and left baffle legs. This results in a poor engine cooling performance.